Zartan
Zartan is a male character who features in G.I. Joe.
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Biography
Marvel Comics
Zartan
His first encounter with Cobra was when the man who would become Cobra Commander hired him to kill Snake Eyes on Firefly's recommendation. Zartan entered the Arashikage dojo as the student of the clan's swordsmith Onihashi. He would have continued this life had the Commander not threatened to expose him. Using one of Storm Shadow's arrows, Zartan accidentally killed Storm Shadow's uncle, who was impersonating Snake Eyes at the time. This event destroyed the clan, and caused Storm Shadow to join Cobra in an attempt to find the real killer.
Somewhere along the way, he became the leader of the Dreadnoks and moved them from Australia to the Florida Everglades. Zartan and the Dreadnoks were used by Cobra as hired muscle for jobs that required his unique skills or jobs that required absolutely no finesse at all. However, his relationship with Cobra was on and off, sometimes by choice and other times by brainwashing.
He began to expand the Dreadnoks, first adding his sister Zarana (who served as his second-in-command), her brother Zandar, and the Thunder Machine driver Thrasher. Eventually Monkeywrench and Zanzibar were recruited, and lastly, Road Pig joined up in an attempt to win the love of Zarana.
Larer, he had been brought into the Pit, the Joe's Headquarters, disguised as an injured Joe, Ripcord. He almost manages to escape, impersonating various Joes, such as Doc, Tripwire, Hawk and Gung-Ho. Zartan is confronted by Sgt. Slaughter while impersonating Gung-Ho, as the real Gung-Ho is standing next to him. Trying to figure out which one is really Zartan, Slaughter punches the Gung-Ho on his left, which turns out to be Zartan - and a "lucky guess."
Zartan is famous for delivering the killing blow to Serpentor during the Cobra Civil War by shooting the Cobra emperor with his longbow.[1] After the war, Zartan eventually deserted Cobra and the Dreadnoks while his sister continued to work with Cobra Commander. He briefly aided the Joes and suggested to them that Dr. Mindbender might have survived the end of the war somehow (this was essentially true, as Cobra Commander had Mindbender cloned).
He went on to work with Destro and retook the Silent Castle. At this time, Mindbender revealed to Cobra Commander that he had previously implanted brain implants in both Destro and Zartan - the trigger was the Commander's unmasked face. Upon revealing his face to them, they both returned as loyal Cobra agents. It was also around this time when Zartan sported a new look, including an orange mohawk and black jacket.
Devil's Due
Zartan and his siblings, Zandar and Zarana, grew up sometime during the early 1970s. As a child, he was diagnosed with an unknown mental health condition requiring medication. They were raised by their French actress mother and movie-mask sculptor father. They grew up in a broken home with a temperamental father. (G.I. Joe Dreadnoks Declassified v1 #1)
Sometime after he began working as an assassin and mercenary, using his disguise abilities. Zartan also worked for a government agency under the name Amauri Sanderson. He underwent a top-secret French genetic experiment, which infused him with chameleon DNA, giving him the ability to blend into his background. During an arms deal with Destro, Amauri Sanderson met the leader of a motorcycle gang who was the original Zartan. Amauri joined the Dreadnoks and reunited with Zandar and Zarana. He was later approached by several Dreadnoks for the purpose of overthrowing the leader, who considered all the members expendable. When the insurrection was exposed, the leader planned to have Amauri executed by dismemberment. Zandar and Zarana incited a rival gang to attack, which gave them the opportunity to free their brother. The traitorous Dreadnoks teamed up with the rival gang, and Amauri fought and overpowered the leader and his rivals. With no one left to back him up, the leader was killed by Buzzer, Torch, and Ripper, and Amauri assumed the identity of Zartan. (G.I. Joe Dreadnoks Declassified v1 #3)
IDW
He was orphaned as a young boy, and made his way by picking pockets on the street. When he was confronted by the local police, he gave them the name he saw on a movie poster behind them - Zartan. Years later, and still using the name Zartan, the man was a Cobra agent answering directly to the Baroness. He was tasked with infiltrating a presidential airliner to ensure the continued cooperation of President Rumanapar. His mission was a success, and the Baroness moved into Cobra's inner circle.
Years after his leaving the Dreadnoks and the collapse of Cobra, Secret Raiders Zartan took an interest in the newly established Mobile Armored Strike Kommand. Posing as an old friend of M.A.S.K. agent Brad Turner, Zartan lured Brad into a loading zone opposite a Miami nightclub where the team was relaxing. Knocking the former DEA agent out and having his henchmen lock him up, Zartan took on Brad's appearance and took his place within the M.A.S.K. team.
Posing as Brad, Zartan was deployed alongside G.I. Joe members Tunnel Rat and Stalker to retrieve a portion of the remains of the Decepticon Astrotrain from the Congo Basin, and carried Tunnel Rat down to the surface from the Joes' Tomahawk aboard the flying Condor motorcycle. Though he detected the Cybertronian's remains in a cave below the ground, the two were pursued by Vanessa Warfield in the Manta; Zartan, however, managed to make her crash by projecting holograms of elephants with Turner's "Eclipse" Mask. When "Brad" reached the target—Astrotrain's arm—he was attacked by Bruno Sheppard; Tunnel Rat, however, shot the V.E.N.O.M. agent and allowed the two to retrieve their target.
After being informed by one of Brad's connections, Rodrigo Gutierrez, that a stash of Ore-13 was being sold in Ferren Woods, Kentucky, Zartan and the other M.A.S.K. members visited the town to investigate. Though it turned out to be a dead end, on returning to their vehicles the team found that they had been mysteriously disabled; "Brad" noted that the situation was "exactly how most horror movies start".
Overview
Personality and attributes
Cunning and intelligent, Zartan is the complete opposite of the band of biker miscreants he leads, the Dreadnoks who tend to rely on brute force.
He had a younger brother and sister in the twins Zarana and Zandar.
Some incarnations also had a daughter named Zanya.
Powers and abilities
A natural skill he possessed as the ability to alter his skin colour allowing him to blend to his environments.
In addition, he had a range of vocal talents as he was a ventriloquist and a gifted polyglot who could speak over 20 languages as well as dialects.
Zartan was an acrobatic contortionist with this lending well to him being a practitioner of several mystic martial arts.
As a master of disguise, he has employed both practical and technological means of deceit, utilizing makeup and holographics. In addition to disguise, he is an expert in ventriloquism, a versatile linguist and escape artist. Zartan is a difficult man to capture and hold as he has shown to be proficient in several martial arts, some of which are believed to be derived from ninjutsu.
Notes
- Zartan was created by Hasbro and featured in the setting of the G.I. Joe universe.
- As noted in the Heritage Comics and Comic Art Auction #7027, the character was originally named as Captain Chameleon but as stated in The Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe. he was renamed as Zartan by writer Larry Hama with the name being an anagram for Tarzan.
In other media
Television
- In G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Zartan appeared in the 1985 Sunbow animated television series where he was voiced by actor Zack Hoffman.
- In G.I. Joe: Resolute, Zartan appeared in the animated mini-series where he was voiced by actor Steve Blum.
- In G.I. Joe: Renegades, Zartan appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Brian Bloom.
Films
- In G.I. Joe: The Movie, Zartan appeared in the setting of the animated film tie-in where he was voiced once again by actor Zack Hoffman.
- In G.I. Joe: Spy Troops, Zartan appeared in the setting of the 2003 direct-to-video CGI film where he was voiced by actor Colin Murdock. Cobra dispatched him to infiltrate G.I. Joe headquarters where he was disguised as Shipwreck to steal the Mind Interface Remote Control (MIRC).
- In G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Zartan appeared in the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Arnold Vosloo. a master of disguise, able to mimic other peoples' mannerisms and characteristics. Sent by McCullen with the Baroness and Storm Shadow, Zartan breaks into the Pit and disguises himself as a G.I. Joe Pit member. He murders Cover Girl with a knife as she reports to General Hawk, taking them by surprise. When the two Cobra agents fight their way out soon after, Zartan takes an alternate route and kills off a nearby Bedouin, donning his clothing to escape detection by Pit members. Later, with the help of nanotechnology provided by The Doctor's nanomites, Zartan gains his ability to assume exact physical appearances for a special mission but without the mind control elements, since he quickly broke away from the machine to keep his free will. During the final battle, Zartan is sent to America using the missile crisis as a cover, where he infiltrates the White House as part of Cobra's plans for world domination, and assumes the identity of the President of the United States. Several times in the film, he whistles the tune "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow", including at the end of the film, confirming that he has taken the place of the President.
Video games
- In G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Zartan appeared in the setting of the 1985 action shoot em' up video game.
Appearances
- G.I. Joe:
External Links
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